‘Star Wars’ honours iconic female characters in new animated series and toy collection

By: Hayley Bradbrook

April 13, 2017

Your favourite female characters from a galaxy far, far away are coming to a store near you! Disney and Lucasfilm have announced plans to honour the strong and ambitious female characters from the
Star Wars franchise in a new series of animated shorts called Stars Wars Forces of Destiny. The videos and accompanying toy collection are expected to launch this summer.

The two-to-three minute episodes will premiere in July on Disney’s YouTube channel and will see a host of actors reprising their iconic roles, including
Daisy Ridley, Felicity Jones, Lupita Nyong’o and John Boyega.

If a web series isn’t enough to curb your appetite for more
Star Wars goodies, keep an eye out for the new Adventure Figures, inspired by the micro-series. The toy collection is expected to hit stores in August and was designed as a hybrid of traditional dolls and action figurines that will include everyone’s favourite female and male characters “to resonate with boys and girls alike.”

The female and male action figurines will be released in August 2017.

The brand’s dedication to gender equality comes two years after it weathered backlash for providing a lack of Rey action figure dolls when
The Force Awakens was released in December 2015.

The Vice President of Hasbro Brands explained in a statement the importance of creating inclusive toys for children, saying, “We want to be as inclusive as possible (and) make sure we represent the inspirational role models from the
Star Wars universe.

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